a senior israeli official arrived in cairo today for talks. the head of hamas is there as well. in the meantime, israeli troops that were preparing for a ground invasion began pulling back today. and in gaza, palestinians are cleaning up the damage left behind by eight days of fighting. charlie d'agata is in gaza. >> reporter: gaza city's deserted streets came back to life today. weapons on both sides fell silent as the fragile cease-fire held. after eight days of living in fear, thousands of palestinians gathered in the city square to show support for hamas. you can feel the sense of relief here on the streets of gaza city today that the fighting is over. but hamas is declaring this a celebration of victory. and despite more than a week of suffering, that's exactly how people here see it. imad told us this latest fight against israel has united palestinians. >> we have a great victory here in gaza okay. we imposed our conditions on them, okay, because we fight them. >> reporter: hamas' prime minister ismail haniyeh, put it this way: he said, "i want to say to the palestinian pe